Ginger Snaps
| running time = 108 min. | country = Canada | language = English | budget = $5,000,000 | gross revenue = | preceded by = | followed by = Ginger Snaps: Unleashed (2004) }} Ginger Snaps is a Canadian independent werewolf film directed by John Fawcett and released in 2000. It premiered at the München Fantasy Filmfest in Germany on August 1st, 2000 while the Canadian premiere screening was on September 10th at the Toronto International Film Festival. Despite limited theatrical release, the film has been critically well-received and has become a cult favorite among horror enthusiests. The plot of Ginger Snaps centers around sisters Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald, two social outcasts at their local high school with an unhealthy interest in death. The film offers a uniquely feminine perspective on werewolf lore by drawing a comparison between the curse of lycanthropy and the onset of puberty. The monthly transformation into a werewolf serves as a metaphor for a woman's menstrual cycle. Plot Twisted Sisters Bailey Downs is a small suburban community in Ontario, Canada, but one that suffers from a breed of terror that has come to be known as the Beast of Bailey Downs. The "beast" has been credited with slaughtering several neighborhood animals. A small boy is playing in a sandbox when he finds the bloodied paw of his pet dog, Baxter. His mother finds the eviscerated remains of the family pet and grows hysterical. Scooping up the child, she runs out into the street screaming, "It killed our dog!" Across the street, the Fitzgerald sisters engage in their own stylized brand of macabre entertainment. Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald are social outcasts with anarchistic attitudes that border on nihilism. In the room of their home, the sisters talk about their pending "suicides". Brigitte is concerned that people will laugh, but Ginger is confident that they will be in awe. They are not speaking of actual suicide, but rather, a school project chronicling life in Bailey Downs. Ginger and Brigitte put together an ambitious slide show showing the sisters in various states of death, most of which involve methods that are both violent and grotesque. They present their slide show to their class and while most of the students get a kick out of the presentation, their teacher, Mister Wayne (who is also the school guidance counselor) is sickened. He instructs each of them to report to his office after class. Later, the girls go to gym class where they play field hockey. They are rivals with a more popular student named Trina Sinclair. Trina overhears the sisters making disparaging comments about her, and decides to pay them back by attacking Brigitte. She knocks her down on the hockey field onto the remains of a mutilated dog. Ginger gets in Trina's face, warning her never to touch her sister again. Brigitte goes inside where the school janitor helps her to clean the dog blood off her face. The Beast of Bailey Downs That evening, the girls return home for an uncomfortable family dinner with their parents Pamela and Henry. Ginger complains about a persistent pain in her lower back and Pamela wonders if it might be cramps. The sisters are unique in that neither of them have experienced their first period yet. Pamela tries to offer words of comfort, but the irritable Ginger has no patience for her. After a terse exchange of words, Ginger and Brigitte leave the house. The two go walking through a nearby park. Ginger begins bleeding and Brigitte notices it dripping down her thigh. Ginger is frustrated, feeling as if her own body is betraying her. Suddenly, they hear a rustling sound from nearby and grow nervous. The legendary "Beast of Bailey Downs", in fact, a werewolf, leaps out and pounces on Ginger. It drags her deep into the woods where it begins clawing and biting at her. Brigitte runs after them screaming Ginger's name. As the monster continues to attack Ginger, Brigitte smacks it across the back with her camera. One of the hits snaps a picture of the creature. Ginger scurries away and the two girls flee the scene. They run across the street and the beast gives chase. As it bounds after them, it is struck by a County Regreening Programme truck driven by a young man named Sam. The impact completely destroys the animal. Sam slams on the brakes and the girl's stumble back to their house. In their room, Brigitte frantically begins cleaning Ginger up. Miraculously though, her wounds are already beginning to heal. They both decide that going to the hospital would be a bad idea. Brigitte breaks open her ruined camera and finds the snapshot of the creature's face. The following day, Ginger and Brigitte go to the local drug store to buy some tampons. Ginger's cramps are overwhelming and she can barely walk. When they reach the checkout counter they see Jason McCardy. Jason recommends "a good toke" to take the edge off. Ginger goes with him and Brigitte finds her later smoking marijuana with Jason and his friends in the back of Sam's van. When Sam returns to his vehicle however, he expresses his disapproval of their actions and kicks them all out. Brigitte grows concerned over her sister's sudden assertiveness. It is at this point that Brigitte meets Sam. Sam recognizes her from the previous evening and asks her about what really happened. He says that he is sure that what he hit was a lycanthrope even though his rational mind tells him that no such creature should even exist. Brigitte dodges his inquiries and returns home. Changes At school, Ginger and Brigitte go outside to talk about all of the strange things that are going on. Trina Sinclair approaches them with her dog. Trina has a fondness for Sam, but Sam has no interest in her. Trina's dog begins barking and snapping at Ginger and Trina tries to hold him back. Ginger gets tired of listening to the animal and kicks it in the face. The enmity between Trina and Ginger deepens. Later that day, Ginger and Brigitte go to see Nurse Ferry. The nurse talks to them about Ginger's menstrual cycle and goes into great detail of the process, causing both sisters great discomfort. That evening, Pamela Fitzgerald finds a pair of Ginger's soiled panties in the laundry basket. Realizing that her daughter has finally had her period, she beams with pride. She bakes Ginger her favorite dessert for dinner. She attempts to broach the subject again, but Ginger is overwhelmed with embarrassment. Brigitte and she get up from the table and go to their room. Ginger accuses Brigitte of telling their mother about her period, but Brigitte insists that she never mentioned a thing. The discussion gets heated and Brigitte points out how different Ginger has become ever since the werewolf incident. The following day, Ginger sheds her introverted image and proudly struts down the corridors at school. Her hair now has two long white streaks in it. On the prowl, she finds Jason McCardy and tackles him into the grass on the field hockey field. Brigitte watches in disgust as Ginger fawns all over him. That evening, Brigitte watches Ginger as she sleeps. She notices that she is now growing a vestigial tail. Horrified, she makes plans to visit Sam. She meets with him at the Greenhouse where he works and bridges the discussion about lycanthropy. Brigitte implies that she is the one suffering from the curse, not Ginger. Sam tells her that he read how some metals like silver may purify the blood. He gives her his silver earring and tells her to put it to the test. Brigitte then goes off to find Ginger. When she finally tracks her down, she finds her in the arms of Jason McCardy. Ginger is still mad about their spat from the previous evening and has nothing to say to her sister. She turns her back on Brigitte and gets into Jason's van. That night, Ginger has sex with Jason in the back of his car. She comes at him not as a lover, but as a predator. Ginger's sexual energy is too much for Jason and he begins screaming as she digs into him. Ginger returns home, sickened by what she had done. Brigitte finds her vomiting in the bathroom. Blood is smeared all across her face. Ginger then goes out and kills Norman, the neighbor's dog. When she comes back inside, Brigitte convinces her to let her give her a naval piercing. She uses Sam's silver earring, but when Ginger inquires where she got it, Brigitte lies and says she "just found it". The experience is painful and doesn't produce the results that Brigitte had hoped for. Ginger is still slowly changing into a werewolf. The Monkshood Solution The next day at school, Jason McCardy meets with his friends on the bleachers near the hockey field. There are scratches all across his face and blood stains on his trousers. He brags about how Ginger Fitzgerald "rocked my world". On the hockey field however, things become a bit more violent. Trina Sinclair is still furious at the Fitzgeralds for their recent altercations and she pushes Brigitte onto the ground. Ginger snaps and leaps upon Trina, brutally pummeling her in the face. The field hockey coach separates them and Ginger is sent to the guidance counselor. While Brigitte is standing outside Mister Wayne's office waiting for Ginger, she sees Jason McCardy walk by. She notes the blood stains on his pants and knows that Ginger has infected him with the curse of lycanthropy. Brigitte convinces Ginger to come with her to see Sam. When they arrive at the greenhouse, Sam researches the lore of lycanthropy and discovers that a perennial plant called monkshood might possess properties that could counteract the curse. Ginger's anger grows with each passing moment and she dismisses everything that Sam says. She even accuses him of trying to seduce Brigitte and cites that she is only fifteen-years-old. Brigitte is forced to drag Ginger out of the building and return home. Trina Sinclair comes over to the Fitzgerald house carrying a dog leash and sporting a band aid across her forehead. She yells at Brigitte and accuses Ginger of stealing her dog. Ginger runs out of the house, grabs Trina in a headlock and drags her inside. Brigitte tries to get her to stop, but Ginger keeps antagonizing the girl. During the scuffle, Trina slips and cracks her head on the corner of the countertop. The blow is sufficient enough to kill her. Brigitte and Ginger hear their parents returning home and they hide Trina's body in the freezer. They go through the motions of filming another one of their "death movies" for extra credit as a means of explaining all of the blood on the floor. As Henry Fitzgerald looks at them mortified, Ginger wipes her finger through the blood, claiming that its just corn syrup. Once the parents are away, they pull Trina's now-frozen body out of the freezer and bury her outside. Unfortunately, Brigitte accidentally breaks two of Trina's frozen fingers off. At school the following day, news quickly spreads about Trina Sinclair's disappearance. As an announcement is made over the PA system, Brigitte forges a note from her mother, excusing Ginger from class. Jason McCardy comes up to her and pushes Brigitte into a supply closet. He is clearly suffering the effects of lycanthropy and demands to know what is happening to him. Fortunately, the school janitor arrives and Jason is forced to leave Brigitte be. At dinner, Pamela reveals that she knows that Ginger has been cutting class. The two argue and Ginger storms off. Pamela asks Brigitte what is going on, but Brigitte is distracted when she sees a pile of purple flowers on her mother's crafts table. She asks her what they are and Pamela says that it is Monkshood. She runs upstairs to show Ginger the Monkshood and finds her trying to cut off her vestigial tail. Ginger is scared and Brigitte promises her that the two of them will leave town together tomorrow. Halloween The next morning, Brigitte locks Ginger in the bathroom. She says that she needs to find a solution and that she is doing this before Ginger can hurt herself or anyone else. She takes the Monkshood to Sam who warns her that he has no idea if this theoretical cure will even work. The results could be fatal. He also reveals that he knows that Ginger is the one suffering from lycanthropy, not Brigitte. Brigitte convinces him to help and Sam boils the Monkshood down into a serum and puts it in a needle. Racing home, Brigitte finds Jason McCardy attacking a small child dressed in a Halloween costume. When she shouts his name, the boy turns around, a feral expression crossing his face. He attacks Brigitte who stabs him in the neck with the Monkshood needle. Jason falls to the ground and his face returns to normal. The cure appears to have worked, but now Brigitte needs more of the Monkshood. When she gets home, she finds that Ginger has broken out of the bathroom. She goes back to school where she discovers to her horror that her sister has just slaughtered their teacher/guidance counselor Mister Wayne. Ginger is even more animalistic than ever. Her teeth are pointed and her facial features are growing even more distorted. They decide they are going to wait until everyone leaves the school then they'll find a way to clean up the mess. Brigitte waits until the coast is clear before she begins mopping up Mister Wayne's remains. There is one other person inside the school though - the janitor. Ginger rakes him across the throat, transmitting the infection. Brigitte tries to stop Ginger, but she is consumed with rage. Claiming that she doesn't like how the janitor looks at Brigitte, she finishes him off. The two argue with one another at length and Ginger announces her intent to pay a "visit" to Sam. At the Fitzgerald residence, Henry finds the two severed fingers of Trina Sinclair in the dirt. Pamela assures him that they are just fake props from one of the girls' death projects. Inside however, she knows differently. Pamela takes the fingers and puts them in Tupperware. She waits until nightfall then goes and digs up Trina's remains. She now knows the truth. Pamela gets into the van and drives off to find her children. A Halloween party is being held at the County Regreening greenhouse where Sam works. Ginger shows up, but by now her hair is completely white and she looks only remotely human. Most of the revelers think that she's just wearing a Halloween costume. She finds Sam and tries to force herself upon him. Sam tries to push her away, but she breaks his arm. Brigitte enters the room and begins arguing with Ginger again. Brigitte cuts her hand and places it on Ginger's bloody palm, thereby infecting herself. Sam revives and knocks Ginger out with a shovel. Brigitte tells Sam that the cure works, but they need to get Ginger back to the house to get more Monkshood. They load her into the van and drive back to the house. Gingerwolf ]] As they drive on into the night, Ginger fully transforms into a werewolf on the way and escapes from the van. Afraid, and unaware that she has transformed, Sam and Brigitte enter the house. Fortunately, neither Pamela nor Henry are at home. As they sense the "Gingerwolf" lurking about, Brigitte and Sam hide inside the pantry, and he begins preparing another mixture of Monkshood. Sam wants Brigitte to take it first, but she tells him no, insisting that he needs to cure Ginger first. Sam then goes out to find Ginger, but she leaps upon him, mutilating him. Brigitte picks up the dropped syringe, and follows the blood trail downstairs. Weak from exhaustion, she collapses on the steps, dropping the syringe in the process. She recovers it, but when she looks up she sees Ginger hovering over the bleeding Sam. Brigitte slowly crawls towards them and begins lapping at Sam's blood in an attempt to calm Gingerwolf. When she begins choking on it, Gingerwolf senses Brigitte's insincerity and kills Sam in front of her, then leaps at Brigitte. Brigitte runs away and the Gingerwolf chases after her. She manages to kick a hole through the plaster wall of the basement and scrambles through the crawlspace back to her and Ginger's bedroom. The werewolf claws through the walls, chasing her, but Brigitte finds the knife that Ginger first used when trying to remove her tail. Gingerwolf lunges at Brigitte who unknowingly stabs her. Brigitte lays her head upon her dead werewolf sister, sobbing, listening until its breathing finally stops. Cast Notes & Trivia has a collection of images related to '' . * ''Ginger Snaps was released to DVD by Artisan Entertainment on October 23rd, 2001. It was also packaged with the Ginger Snaps: The Trilogy boxset collection. * The title of the film is a pun on the biscuit of the same name. "Snap" also relates to losing one's self-control, or a quick, aggressive bite. * Filmed primarily in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. * The tagline for this film is, "They don't call it the Curse for nothing." Awards Recommendations See also External Links * * * Ginger Snaps at Wikipedia * * * * * ---- Category:Films Category:2000 films Category:1st installments Category:Artisan Entertainment Category:Copperheart Entertainment Category:Lions Gate Entertainment Category:Motion International Category:Katharine Isabelle Category:Films with plot summaries Category:Brett Sullivan